Nani Alongi's Chocolate Christmas Cookies
- 4 eggs, large
- 1 cup Crisco
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange extract
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 6 12 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 1 12 teaspoons nutmeg
- 1 12 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 12 teaspoons cloves
- 1 12 teaspoons orange rind, grated
- 1 cup walnuts, coarsley chopped
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 lb powdered sugar, unsifted
- 12 cup egg white, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- In a glass measuring cup, add your milk and vinegar and whisk briskly.
- Let sit for approximately 10 minutes to sour.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, crisco, sugar and orange extract on high until well mixed (about 1 to 2 minutes).
- Set aside.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, combine 4 cups of flour (reserve the 2.5 cups to be added later), baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel, nuts and raisins.
- Alternately add your milk and beaten egg mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix my hand.
- Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time and mix well (it's easier this way, trust me).
- Continue adding the flour until you can form the dough into a ball.
- If you don't use all the flour, that is okay, but your dough needs to be able to form a ball and it shouldn't stick to your hands.
- Using a teaspoon (my teaspoon looks like a melon baller), scoop out some dough and form into a ball.
- Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake for 7 to 8 minutes ONLY.
- Place on table lined with waxed paper and let cool completely.
- FROSTING:.
- In a mixing bowl, beat your egg whites, orange extract and cream of tartar until foamy.
- Add your powder sugar one cup at a time and beat on medium speed for about 5 minutes.
- The frosting will be thick.
- Once your cookies have cooled, scoop out about 3 tablespoons of frosting into a small bowl (like a soup dish).
- Roll each cookie in the frosting (ensuring you get frosting all over the cookie).
- Hint: The cookies should NOT be coated heavily with the frosting (see pictures).
- Place on wax paper and let dry.
- Repeat until all cookies are frosted.
- Once the tops and sides of the cookies are dry, turn the cookies over and let the bottoms of the cookies dry.
- Place in a container (platic bag works just fine) and keep in the freezer until ready to serve.
- Enjoy!
- Prep time includes rolling out the cookies and frosting them.
- Baking time is for each tray of cookies.
- This makes approximately 17 dozen cookies (or 204 cookies).
- Nutritional value is for 1 cookie!
eggs, crisco, sugar, orange extract, milk, white vinegar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, orange rind, walnuts, raisins, powdered sugar, egg white, cream of tartar
Taken from www.food.com/recipe/nani-alongis-chocolate-christmas-cookies-402320 (may not work)